Day 31: The Dalai Lama Addressed a Stark Challenge for Modernized Peoples

So, I woke up this morning already feeling the benefits of the Bowen technique.I had some weird tight sensations in my thumbs, wrists and lower back.I was still congested, but I had a greater range of breath. After work, I go over to Bridgeport Village for some chicken Pho at Zao Noodle Bar.It’s not authentic, I know.But, I wanted noodle soup and it was close by.So, after I eat, I head over to the bookstore.I end up in the photography section and start flipping through a book called Homage to the Himalayas by Olivier Föllmi.The book opens with a preface by His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

Profound changes have rocked many regions of the world over the last century.Undoubtedly, there is a pressing need to improve people’s living conditions, facilitate access to education, and develop transport links.However, in passing from one way of life to another, there is a risk of rejecting everything that has stood the test of time, of favoring the new at the expense of the old – and thus of losing all sense of our values.Perhaps this largely explains people’s fascination with regions that are still untouched by the modern world, where ancestral customs and values survive.

The region’s mountainous terrain makes access difficult, and even today the Himalayas remain more resistant to change than other lands.Their inhabitants live in harmony with the seasons, and they perceive time differently than people who live in huge, overpopulated cities.They could be defined by their patience and their calm.Although I know the Tibetans best, I have observed that most other Himalayan peoples share their placid attitude to life.They are content with their lot and do not fear hardship.Although this can be attributed to the harsh climate and rugged environment, there is also another contributing factor: Buddhist culture, which has existed in the Himalayas for more than 1000 years.With its teachings based upon love, kindness and tolerance, its doctrine of relativity, Buddhism permeates the soul and the spirit of the Himalayan peoples, endowing them with great reserves of inner peace.

My aim is not to preach a return to ancient ways of life, for modern civilization offers many benefits for humankind.However, whether they are living in a developed or a developing country, people today face a stark challenge: to achieve inner harmony, a source of peace, as traditional communities do, while at the same time enjoying the material benefits of the modern world.

Tenzin Gyatso
Fourtheenth Dalai LamaJuly 2004

I thought about this passage for several minutes, which will ultimately turn into several hours and even days.It may be redundant to highlight the “stark challenge” of achieving inner harmony and a source of peace while enjoying the benefits of the modern world.I feel, in some ways, like I’ve hit a wall.If I paid off all my debts, if I rid myself of all of my unnecessary belongings, if I lived simply in a beautiful space somewhere in the hills with mystical misty mountain views, if I only prayed and wrote, and watched the trees sway, wouldn’t I be at peace so much faster than trying to co-exist with all of this modern crap?